Not drowning, just waving? What do insects tell us about Zealandia, the Oligocene and dispersal in New Zealand biogeography?

Adrian Paterson*1

1 Lincoln University, Lincoln

There has been an extensive debate about the biogeographical history of New Zealand's biota over a number of decades. More recently there has been the suggestion that most modern lineages have arrived in New Zealand over the last 20 million years. Numerous insect studies have addressed this issue over the last decade and seem to support the idea of dispersal rather than vicariant origins for their presence in New Zealand. I will summarise this research with regards to long distance dispersal and age of lineages within New Zealand, identify possible vicariant lineages (as well as making a few scathing comments about panbiogeography).